Russia: EU prolongs economic sanctions by six months

On 21 December 2017, the Council prolonged economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 July 2018.

This decision follows an update from President Macron and Chancellor Merkel to the European Council of 14 December 2017 on the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements. The duration of the sanctions was linked to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements by the European Council on 19 March 2015, which was foreseen to take place by 31 December 2015. Since this did not happen, and given that the Minsk agreements have still not been fully implemented, the Council has extended the sanctions by a further six months.

The Council formalised this decision today by written procedure and, in line with the rule for all such decisions, unanimously.

The measures were originally introduced on 31 July 2014 for one year in response to Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine. They were strengthened in September 2014. They target the financial, energy and defence sectors, and the area of dual-use goods.

	Cybersecurity: EU institutions strengthen cooperation to counter cyber-attacks

	On 20 December 2017 EU institutions took an important step in strengthening their cooperation in the fight against cyber-attacks. An inter-institutional arrangement which enters into force today establishes a permanent Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-EU) covering all the EU's institutions, bodies and agencies. It consolidates the existing task force into a permanent and effective team responsible for ensuring a coordinated EU response to cyber-attacks against its institutions. CERT-EU works very closely with the internal IT security teams of the EU institutions, and liaises with the Computer Emergency Response Teams and IT security companies in member states and elsewhere, exchanging information on threats and how to handle them. It also cooperate closely with its counterparts at NATO. CERT-EU is a member of the network of EU national and governmental Computer Security Incident Response Teams that has been established by the Directive on security of network and information systems. Background In recent years, Computer Emergency Response Teams have been set up in both the public and private sectors as small teams of cyber-experts that can respond effectively and efficiently to information security incidents and cyber threats. They are a key component in the strategy to combat these threats by assisting their clients in detecting and preventing weaknesses. They provide advance warning to their clients and recommend action to mitigate risks. They help to detect compromised systems and attacks and to take appropriate steps to prevent them or assist organisations to recover from them. They are highly interconnected with each other, creating a community of experts fighting for the common cause of cybersecurity. CERT-EU's resources are provided by EU institutions, bodies and agencies. The team operates under the strategic oversight of an inter-institutional Steering Board.

Provisional deal on effort sharing emissions - another step towards Paris targets

On 21 December, representatives of the Estonian Presidency and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the effort sharing regulation to ensure further emission reductions in sectors falling outside the scope of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) for the period 2021-2030. The provisional agreement requires endorsement by member states. EU ambassadors are expected to analyse the text in January.

This agreement is another big step for the EU towards fulfilling its Paris climate commitment of a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

Non-ETS sectors need to reduce their emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels to meet this EU target. The new regulation sets out binding national targets and puts in place the necessary framework for effort sharing sectors, including buildings, agriculture (non-CO2 emissions), waste management, transport (excluding aviation and shipping) and industry (i.e. industry, energy supply and product use), to reach the non-ETS sectors contribution in 2030.

"We are putting the EU on the path to meeting its Paris climate goals. The ETS reform agreement a few weeks ago was the first major advance. Today we are another step closer by guaranteeing that our buildings and transport, among other sectors, do their share and lower emissions considerably over the next decade. Climate has been at the heart of the Estonian presidency and we are taking concrete action for a cleaner future."
Siim Kiisler, Minister for the Environment of the Republic of Estonia

Both co-legislators agreed on a robust text with a special focus on three main chapters: targets, flexibilities and compliance. The central elements of those fields in the text are as follows:

Targets

Each member state will have to comply with a binding annual emission reduction target for the period 2021-2030. These targets are calculated on the basis of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ranging from 0% to 40% below 2005 levels and are in line with the 30% EU reduction target for non-ETS sectors.

An emissions reduction path is established for member states to make sure they decrease emissions at a constant pace throughout that period. The starting point will be based on the average emissions from 2016 to 2018 as proposed by the Commission with the start of the trajectory calculation at 2019 and 5 months (five twelfth’s of distance from 2019 and 2020) or in 2020, whichever results in a lower allocation for that Member State.

A safety reserve with a total of 105 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent is created and will be available in 2032. It is intended to help less wealthy member states which may have difficulties reaching their 2030 targets despite exceeding their targets in the current 2013-2020 period. These member states are required to use the other available flexibilities prior to using this reserve. Strict conditions also apply, for instance the reserve will be accessible only if the EU attains its 2030 target.

Flexibilities

Current flexibilities under the effort sharing decision are preserved to help member states attain their annual limits. They will be able to bank, borrow and transfer annual emission allocations between countries from one year to another within the 2021-2030 period.

Two new flexibilities are introduced in line with European Council guidelines. The one-off ETS flexibility will allow member states which did not receive free allocation for industrial installations in 2013, or which are required to fulfil emission reduction targets above the EU average and their reduction potential, to cancel a limited number of EU ETS allowances. The LULUCF flexibility will enable member states to make limited use of net removals from certain land use, land use change and forestry. This will also include credits from managed forest land once the forest reference levels have been adopted under the LULUCF regulation and from wetlands when accounting for them becomes mandatory under that regulation.

Given the exceptional circumstances of some member states, namely Latvia and Malta, the small additional adjustment of two million tonnes CO2 equivalent suggested by the Council has been maintained and will be added to their allocation in 2021.

Compliance

To ensure compliance by member states, existing annual and biennial planning, reporting and other monitoring obligations are foreseen together with two compliance checks over the 2021-2030 period.

Timeline and next steps

The European Commission presented two proposals on the sectors not covered by the ETS – effort sharing and LULUCF – in July 2016 on the basis of the guidelines provided by the European Council in its October 2014 conclusions.

Given the links between the two proposals, ministerial discussions on non-ETS sectors took place in parallel. These files were on the agenda of three Environment Council meetings before a negotiating position was agreed: a policy debate on 17 October 2016, a state-of-play briefing on 19 December 2016 and a progress report in June 2017.

The Council reached its general approach on 13 October and started negotiations shortly thereafter with the European Parliament, which adopted its position on 14 June during its plenary session.

Three trilogues were held on 26 October, 21 November and 13 December before concluding negotiations today. The provisional text will be presented to EU ambassadors today and they will analyse it for endorsement on behalf of the Council in January.

Once the Council and the Parliament formally adopt the act, the new legislation will enter into force 20 days later after its publication in the EU Official Journal.

Council's general approach (Environment Council, 13 October 2017)

Press release - effort sharing (Environment Council, 13 October 2017)

Commission proposal on effort sharing - original document

Current effort sharing decision (up to 2020)